Cell-free circulating DNA in Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

BACKGROUND: Levels of cell-free circulating DNA have been correlated to clinical characteristics and prognosis in patients with cancers of epithelial origin, while there are no data on patients with B-lymphoproliferative diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cell-free DNA levels in the plasma samples of 142 patients with lymphomas [45 with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), 63 with diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (DLBCL), 24 with follicular, and 10 with mantle cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)] at diagnosis and of 41 healthy individuals were determined using a quantitative PCR for the beta-globin gene. RESULTS: Levels of circulating DNA in patients with HL, DLBCL, and mantle cell NHL were significantly higher than in controls (P < 0.01 for all). Increased levels of plasma DNA were associated with advanced stage disease, presence of B-symptoms, elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels, and age >60 years (P = 0.009; <0.0001; <0.0001; 0.04, respectively). In HL, histological signs of necrosis and grade 2 type of nodular sclerosis were associated with increased plasma DNA. Elevated plasma DNA levels were associated with an inferior failure-free survival in patients with HL (P = 0.01) and DLBCL (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Quantification of circulating DNA by real-time PCR at diagnosis can identify patients with elevated levels that are associated with disease characteristics indicating aggressive disease and poor prognosis.

A Rare Case of Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Diagnosed 10 Years after Liver Transplant.

Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) represent a rare and potentially life-threatening complication after liver transplantation. Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), with an incidence of approximately 1.8-3.4% of all PTLD cases, represents a minority of PTLD, mainly presenting as a late transplant complication. The main risk factors for the development of PTLD are Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and intensive immunosuppression. However, other risk factors like hepatitis C virus may, together with EBV infection, contribute to the development of PTLD. Here we present a case of late-onset EBV-positive cHL that occurred 10 years after an unrelated donor liver transplantation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cHL occurring with such a long interval after liver transplantation. Given the low incidence of cHL PTLD, there is little information regarding pathology, clinical characteristics, and management of this disease. The development of individual, risk-adapted treatments may improve the long-term outcome of cHL PTLD.

Allele-specific loss and transcription of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Deregulation of the miR-15a/16-1 cluster has a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a clinically heterogeneous disease with indolent and aggressive forms. The miR-15a/16-1 locus is located at 13q14, the most frequently deleted region in CLL. Starting from functional investigations of a rare SNP upstream the miR cluster, we identified a novel allele-specific mechanism that exploits a cryptic activator region to recruit the RNA polymerase III for miR-15a/16-1 transcription. This regulation of the miR-15a/16- locus is independent of the DLEU2 host gene, which is often transcribed monoallellically by RPII. We found that normally one allele of miR-15a/16-1 is transcribed by RNAPII, the other one by RNAPIII. In our subset of CLL patients harboring 13q14 deletions, exclusive RNA polymerase III (RPIII)-driven transcription of the miR-15a/16-1 was the consequence of loss of the RPII-regulated allele and correlated with high expression of the poor prognostic marker ZAP70 (P=0.019). Thus, our findings point to a novel biological process, characterized by double allele-specific transcriptional regulation of the miR-15a/16-1 locus by alternative mechanisms. Differential usage of these mechanisms may distinguish at onset aggressive from indolent forms of CLL. This provides a basis for the clinical heterogeneity of the CLL patients carrying 13q14 deletions.

New and old monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Over the last few years, several new agents have been under evaluation in preclinical studies and clinical trials, showing promise in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Among these agents, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as rituximab and alemtuzumab have changed the natural course of the disease. Nowadays there are several new promising monoclonal antibodies under investigation against the CD20, CD23, CD37 and CD40 molecules. Application of newer monoclonal antibodies represents an area of ongoing clinical research in CLL.

Polymorphism in cytokine genes as prognostic markers in Hodgkin's lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: In Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), the production of cytokines by Reed-Sternberg cells and the surrounding tissue is thought to contribute to the biology of the disease. Cytokine expression can be altered by common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5'-promoter regions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied polymorphic allele variants of the cytokine genes interleukin (IL)-10 (T-3575A, G-2849A, C-2763A, A-1082G and C-592A), IL-6 (G-174C) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (C-863A and G-308A) in 184 patients with HL, and analyzed for associations with treatment outcome. RESULTS: Carriers of the IL-10-592AA and the IL-6-174GG genotypes had a significantly lower probability of freedom from treatment failure (FFTF) with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for failure of 2.92 [95% CI (confidence interval) 1.58-5.41, P = 0.001] and of 1.75 (95% CI 1.04-2.92, P = 0.03), respectively. Reconstructing haplotypes from the five SNPs in the IL-10 promoter revealed that homozygous carriers of the IL-10.4 haplotype (T-G-C-A-A) had a worse FFTF (HR, 2.35; 95% CI 1.2-4.6, P = 0.01). In the Cox multivariate analysis, the IL-10-592AA, the IL-6-174GG genotypes and stage were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that cytokine genotypes predict clinical outcome in patients with HL and points to the importance of the genetic background of the host for treatment response.